Education Min goes full steam ahead to make closest school best school
View(s):More than 200 projects completed under the ‘closest school is the best school’ concept was officially handed over to the Education sector on Friday.
New classrooms, technological laboratories, administrative buildings, science labs, auditoriums, medical centres, aesthetic study centres, principal and teachers’ quarters, hostels and multi-purpose buildings are among the projects built at a cost of Rs3,938 million.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took part in the main event in the Kurunegala District by ceremonially opening a three-storeyed building for St Joseph’s Kuliyapitiya, a building for Saranath Vidyalaya and an administrative building for teacher training in Kuliyapitiya.
The breakdown by province of the 200 projects completed and ready to be opened included Southern (35), Eastern (34), Central (31), North and Sabaragamuwa 20 each, North Central (19). The rest of them are in the Western, Uva and North Western provinces.
The concept of converting the closest school to the best school was launched in 2016 to be completed by 2020, under which 18,000 projects are to be completed in 9,063 schools at a cost of Rs65,000 million.
The objective of the programme was to enable students to study at the school closest to their residence.
The projects have been completed under the supervision of Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.
- Damith Wickremasekara